Battle of Liang Province (181)

The Battle of Liang Province occurred in 181 AD during the fall of the Han dynasty. An alliance of Liang Province warlords under Ma Teng and Han Sui rebelled against Dong Zhuo's rule, evicting his forces from the region.

Background
Liang Province, located in northwestern China, was a recently-conquered region, and it had much autonomy due to the power of regional warlords such as Ma Teng and Han Sui. In 181 AD, the regional warlords formed an alliance to prevent the brutal warlord Dong Zhuo from invading Liang, but many of the warlords fought amongst themselves. This ultimately left Ma Teng and Han Sui to fight Dong Zhuo, and they raised an army which also included Ma Teng's son Ma Chao and the fearsome warrior Pang De.

Battle
The Allied forces decided to attack Dong Zhuo's forces before the main army arrived, with Ma Chao being sent to take Dong Zhuo's bases to make it easier for the rest of the army to advance. At the time, Dong Zhuo's generals Dong Min, Xu Rong, Guo Si, Hua Xiong, and Niu Fu held the field, and they were spread across the battlefield. While Pang De defended the main camp, Ma Chao advanced to the southwest and defeated Niu Fu before capturing an attack base, allowing for reinforcements to arrive in the future; Cheng Yin arrived with reinforcements moments later. Ma Chao then headed to the northeast to secure another entryway for the reinforcements, routing Guo Si and capturing the base; Hou Xuan arrived with more Allied reinforcements. Ma Teng then ordered Ma Chao to seal off several other strongholds to prevent Dong Zhuo from sending reinforcements. He eliminated Dong Min's unit in the east and cut off the reinforcement route, and he then headed to the southeast to deal with Hua Xiong. Shortly after, Dong Zhuo's main army arrived, but they arrived without any hope for support from other units. Ma Chao went on to defeat Dong Zhuo himself, and Dong Zhuo was forced to flee for his life. Liang successfully ousted Dong Zhuo's forces, and the Liang warlords returned to ruling their lands.